Keepin' It Real.

Okay, so life isn't quite neat and tidy at the moment.
In fact, it's in severe disarray.

My classroom.
(I've actually made some progress on this since the picture, but it's far from done.)
Classes begin next Friday.

 The garage after cleaning out the attic.
It makes me tired just looking at it.

 Old artwork and homeschooling projects.
This is what I'm tackling today.

I knew the attic would be my undoing.
Attics are great for things like Christmas decorations
and camping gear, but they can get unruly fast.
In the name of simplicity,
we're being ruthless in our purging.
If I can get it together,
there will be a yard sale this weekend.
I've got to knock it out before school starts,
so packing will be as minimal as possible for our move.

Wish me luck!

Stop What You're Doing and...

*via (original source not found).

Yes.

This is perfect for me right now.

(And in case you've ever wondered,

this is proof that God can speak through Pinterest.)

Life hit the ground running when we got home from vacation.

For one thing,

school starts in less than 3 weeks.

Uniforms must be ordered, supplies must be bought,

summer reading must be finished.

Add to that the fact that I start a new job in 13 days.

I've been lesson planning and getting my classroom 

together all summer, but details are still

swirling around in my head.

And the cherry on top?....

We have a contract on our house!!
(Interestingly enough,
it's the first people who saw it after we painted.)

We are navigating appraisals and inspections

and needing to think about packing.

Closing date is set for August 31,

two weeks after school starts.

Needless to say, 

I find my head spinning at times.

The remedy?

Stop.

Be still.

Just breathe.

When I saw this image,

I felt like God whispered to my heart,

"I'm leading you down this road.

I know what's around the bend.

I'm going before you, preparing the way,

just as I have guided you to this point.

Do not be anxious for anything,

just trust me."

Yes, Lord.

Thank you.

Be still and know.
And just breathe.

Fun times.

Today the Kirsche girls went on an adventure.

We joined several other families in Helen, Georgia

for a day of tubing, picnicing, and hiking.

It was great fun floating down the river in our pink tubes.

(Hi Bonnie!)

We enjoyed the refreshing breeze, the relaxing sound of the water,

and the occasional sighting of a rare northeast Georgia gum tree.

(Make sure you duck floating under these!)

The hike to Anna Ruby Falls is beautiful.

We spotted birds, squirrels, snakes, fish, insects, and amphibians.

(Lola's a brave girl, picking that thing up!)

(This toad was so tiny--about the width of a 10 year old's finger!)

It was a special day with friends.

Its intention was to celebrate several kids' birthdays,

but it was really a Falling Shoals Utopia reunion of sorts.

(We missed you, Leigh!!)

(All the kids, minus Berkley and Cailyn.)

.......

You see, we have had this special thing in our neighborhood 

for the past seven years --

five families with 17 kids between us,

all of whom are the best of friends.

Most of these years, we moms have been homeschooling.

We have been a support group for each other--

we have laughed, cried, prayed for and encouraged one another.

We have spent much time together.

And, oh, the kids!

As soon as possible each day,

the kids have torn out the doors looking for each other.

They have played games and sports, built legos and forts,

made crafts and movies and so on until dinnertime.

Everyday.

They have gone from house to house to house

and we know they are safe and sound and happy.

It has been idyllic.

But time marches on.

The Morris family moved a couple of years ago.

Some of the kids have gone to school and several more are going this fall.

Two will graduate from high school this year.

Two of us have our houses for sale.

As much as we may want to, 

we can't keep change from happening.

We just have to be intentional about getting together,

like we were today,

and continue to add to the memories.

And I think we will--

the bonds formed in these childrearing years are strong.

You go through a lot of real life with each other,

the good, the bad, the ugly.

And I wouldn't change it for the world. 

"Make new friends, but keep the old,

one is silver and the other gold."

Roma Rama.

That's what my husband called these plants tonight.

These are two Roma tomato plants, which were in 4 inch pots when we bought them.

"Those are big tomato plants," you may be thinking, "but I don't see many tomatoes."

Oh, they're there.

Behind leaves, inside the cages, we keep finding more.

 And that's after picking all of these.

From two plants, people.

Quite a few eggplants, too.

It is satisfying to harvest food that you have grown.
There's a connection,
a deeper sense of God's provision.
I truly enjoy it.

And boy, are we experiencing a tomato harvest right now!
We've shared them with neighbors and friends.
We've made salsa and pasta sauce.
Caprese sandwiches, too.
I'm planning on freezing a bunch of them.
I've got good recipes for tomato/cucumber salad and tomato pie
and I came across this recipe tonight, too.
It's from one of my favorite cookbooks--
"Giada's Family Dinners" by Giada DeLaurentiis.
I'll be making that this weekend.
But I have a feeling I'll still have lots of these guys to deal with, so...
if you live nearby and want some Romas, let me know.
And if you have any tomato (or eggplant) recipes that you love,
please share them with me! :)

Inspiration.

Michelle and Greg asked me to paint the door to the outside shower

while we were in Ocean City.
Quite honestly, this request was a bit intimidating.

First of all, outside showers at the beach are somewhat sacred
with this clan.
This is an important space.

Secondly, the stall around the shower was built by Uncle Harry,
Pepop's brother, many, many years ago.

His carpentry skills were solid--anything built by Harry Kirsche
could survive World War III, so I've been told.

{Quick reminder: Pepop and Memom are Kevin's and Michelle's
grandparents, who bought this house in 1982.}

These two brothers were the best of friends; their wives were, too.
 Countless laughs and good times were shared 

between them in this house.
I'm grateful to have been able to share in this before they were all gone.
Memom died in 2001.
Both Uncle Harry and Pepop died in 2008.
Aunt Marty, Uncle Harry's wife, died in 2009.

Now Michelle and Greg own the Ocean City house.
They are realizing life-long dreams of living here
and it's wonderful that this house could stay in the family.
They have done some wonderful updates to the house
but retained many touches from the past,
including Uncle Harry's shower stall.

They wanted something bright and happy-
yellows, blues and greens-
but weren't sure what.
Then one day our cousin came by, sharing a story
of how he had helped a turtle across the road that morning.
That got me thinking.
I did a quick sketch then just went for it.

No turning back now.

Nothing like an audience to up the intimidation factor...

but I pushed through.

The finished product.

It is bright and happy.
Michelle and Greg seem to like it.
And it is fitting that our cousin Kevin,
who shared the turtle story which provided the inspiration,
is Uncle Harry's grandson.

The passing down from generation to generation.
Memories. Legacies.
Who knows?
Maybe someday our children will tell their children the story
of how the turtle painting came to be.

Jam-packed (near) Perfection.

The Ocean City Boardwalk.

It's one of the great things about this town.

I didn't experience anything like this in St. Augustine growing up.

The boardwalk is about 2.5 miles long.

The beach is on one side of the boardwalk;

the other side has all kinds of family fun--

shops, restaurants, arcades, mini golf,

movie theatres, water slides and amusement parks.
It is a kid's dream!

There are always lots of people.

The Music Pier, where concerts and other events are held.

Piggy back rides are always fun!

A shot taken from the beach.

People walk, run, rides bikes, and rent surreys

on the boardwalk.
It's full of activity from sun up to sun down.
.......

For the past few years on our last morning here,
our family has ridden bikes to the boardwalk 

to a specific destination: Oves.

The reason: these.

Those cinnamon ones on the left? To. die. for.

We lock up our bikes, cross the boardwalk and stroll down to a nice spot on the beach.
Our hearts are sad; we don't want to go!
But we choose to be thankful instead--
thankful for the time with family, the memories formed,
the opportunity to relax and have fun.
These are gifts we treasure.
We eat our yummy doughnuts and plan our final day in O.C.
This year?

Kevin, Berkley and Sierra went parasailing!
Hadley and I went downtown ukulele shopping
and then we hit up Crazy Susan's Cookies.
(You know, since we had doughtnuts for breakfast.)

Apparently, there is a Food Network show about this store
called "Tough Cookies".
I've never seen it, but the cookies were out of control.

Then all of us went to the beach one last time.

Hadley and Chase trying to catch a wave.

And Kevin caught a surf board to the eye.
(He has a full fledged shiner now, just in time to head back to work in the morning!)

We lingered as long as we could,
then headed home for a dinner of cheesesteak sandwiches. Classic.
.......

The drive home was long (14.5 hours)
but worth every second.
We had a fantabulous vacation--
black eye and Rosie's brief stint in doggie jail aside,
pretty close to perfection.

And now, it's back to reality.
Let the summer reading begin.

A dinner party, O.C. style.

  In addition to all the fun that the Kirsches/Whelans have been having,

we've all enjoyed seeing the Cook cousins as well.

We have spent several days on the beach with them.

The dads took the cousins to the water slide one day and

we took the girl cousins to the amusement park on Saturday night.

Walking to the boardwalk.

The younger girls waiting in line for a ride

while Kevin and Sierra rode this.

One of the ferris wheels on the boardwalk.

The girls had SO much fun together!

 After we finished the rides, we went here for ice cream.

Yummy!

On Sunday, Michelle was inspired to have a dinner party.

Hawaiian pulled chicken sandwiches, fresh corn with "corn goody",

pretzel nutella brownies and cupcakes were on the menu.

Dominique brought appetizers and a salad.

It was a lovely time.

 Big cousins.

Little cousins.

Decorating cupcakes with Aunt Louise.

Boy, did the kiddos have a grand time with this!

                                                Cullen                                         Julia and Sierra

Sophie

                                             Chase                                                  

                                          Jack                          Hadley                        Olivia

It's amazing how cousins that we only see once a year

become fast friends again instantaneously.

The roots of family runs deep.